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Cafardo On Cueto, Angels, Red Sox

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe looks at the recent phenomenon of teams installing various layers of upper management.  Lately, teams have taken to employing a president of baseball operations, a GM, and then one or two assistant GMs underneath that person.  In baseball circles, this has become known as “title inflation,” Cafardo writes.  One source says that small market teams don’t like this trend, presumably because the larger market teams are able to pluck execs away with fancier titles that really amount to a lateral move.

Here’s more from today’s column..

  • One AL exec told Cafardo that he stayed away from Johnny Cueto at the trade deadline because of a possible elbow issue.  Many believed that Cueto’s elbow didn’t dampen his trade value this summer since he returned to action for the Reds and continued to pitch well, but we know now that it was a turnoff for at least one club.  Since coming over to the Royals, Cueto owns a 4.99 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 across eleven starts, and one can’t help but wonder if the elbow is a factor.  MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently dropped Cueto to eighth in his 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings.
  • Many believe the biggest factor in the Angels’ GM search will be the ability of each candidate to co-exist with manager Mike Scioscia, Cafardo writes. Scioscia, the longtime Halos skipper, has had a fair amount of say in personnel decisions over the years.  Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler has a “good shot” at getting the job, per Cafardo.
  • Cafardo wonders aloud if the Red Sox will allow Torey Lovullo to pursue managerial opportunities this winter.  Lovullo has managed the Red Sox in Farrell’s absence and now has the managerial experience that teams were previously concerned about.
  • Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire appears ready to get back into managing, Cafardo writes.
  • Jason Varitek, currently serving as a special assistant for the Red Sox, has been mentioned as a managerial candidate.  However, the former catcher’s top priority right now is his family, so it’s not clear if he’d be ready for that kind of grind and commitment.

Red Sox To Appoint Sam Kennedy As President

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The Red Sox announced that Chief Operating Officer Sam Kennedy will take over as club President on October 16th.  Meanwhile, Larry Lucchino has been named President/CEO Emeritus.  “Lucchino will be an active participant in the strategic direction of the franchise and will participate in various issues facing Major League Baseball,” according to the press release, and will remain a member of the Red Sox’s ownership group.

“Larry has helped write a new chapter in the storied history of this franchise,” said Principal Owner John W. Henry in the press release. “He has brought boldness, vision, and intensity each day to Fenway Park. He has also assembled an outstanding team around him, the hallmark of a great CEO.”

Of course, Kennedy will not be involved on the baseball side of things the same way that Lucchino was.  Dave Dombrowski, hired as President of Baseball Operations over the summer, will have control over everything on the field while Kennedy is expected to deal more with business operations.  In the press release, Henry notes that Kennedy has been the heir apparent to Lucchino’s title since 2012.  Team chairman Tom Werner also offered a strong endorsement of Kennedy.

“I have known and worked with Sam for nearly 20 years. We have marveled at his growth and development as one of the top young executives in the sports industry. We could not be happier to entrust him with this position and look forward to working with him on the day-to-day operation of the club,” Werner said.

East Notes: Sandoval, Ramirez, Red Sox, Phillies,

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We discussed the West earlier tonight. Here’s the latest from the East:

  • Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval is expected to miss the rest of the season with pneumonia, writes John Tomase of WEEI.com. This comes just a couple days after fellow offseason signee Hanley Ramirez was shut down for the year with a shoulder injury. Sandoval hit .245/.292/.366 on the year with 43 runs scored and 47 RBI. Ramirez managed just .249/.291/.426 with 59 runs and 53 RBI. Advanced metrics labelled both players as terrible defenders this season (Sandoval at least has a history of solid defense). Undoubtedly, the pair was expected to produce about twice as many runs with passable defense. Had they performed to those expectations, Boston’s 6.5 game deficit in the Wild Card race could be a lead.
  • Boston has three potential candidates to man first base in 2016, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. The club plans to train Ramirez at the position after he failed to adjust to the outfield. Undoubtedly, Red Sox personnel hope first base can help Ramirez to stay healthy. The other internal option is Travis Shaw. He’s done enough to earn another look after hitting .282/.348/.511 with 11 home runs over 210 plate appearances. Shaw, 25, was never a highly touted prospect. The team may prefer to use him as depth. If they’re uncomfortable with Ramirez and Shaw, they could always dig into the coffers for Chris Davis. Personally, I expect any big free agent investments to be in the rotation.
  • The Phillies have their own first base conundrum to solve, writes Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. They anticipate an influx of talent next season, but first base will probably remain a time share between Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf. Howard will be in the final guaranteed season of a five-year, $125MM extension. Previous attempts to swap him to the junior circuit have turned up zero trading partners. Howard still hits well against right-handed pitchers while Ruf handles southpaws with aplomb. The platoon has combined for about -1 WAR this season, but they’ve also bashed a combined 33 home runs with 78 runs and 108 RBI in 766 plate appearances. That’s roughly a third of the team’s run production. Clearly, they can have some value to the club so long as they avoid same-handed pitchers.
  • Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is frustrated with his 2015 season, he tells Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Desmond, 30, is by far the top shortstop entering free agency, but he’s coming off his first below average offense campaign since 2011. Desmond hit just .232/.286/.382 on the year. When asked if he would accept a qualifying offer, Desmond hinted it was possible.

Quick Hits: Managers, Sierra, Red Sox

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Too many MLB managers are former players, Adam Felder argues in a provocative piece for the Atlantic. 77% of MLB managers once played in MLB, whereas in other major sports, whereas only about half of all NBA and NHL head coaches played, and about a quarter of NFL head coaches did. Meanwhile, the performance of some MLB managers with limited experience beyond their playing careers, such as the Nationals’ Matt Williams, suggests that some teams might be weighting playing experience too heavily when hiring managers. Felder suggests one solution might be for teams to employ one person to handle tactical decisions and another — perhaps more likely to be a former player — to lead the clubhouse. Here are more quick notes from around the big leagues.

  • 20-year-old Cuban righty Carlos Sierra will have a showcase on October 13 in Florida, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets. As Sanchez noted in an earlier article, Sierra pitched three years in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, but this year he pitched for the Tenerife Marlins in the top baseball league in Spain. Sierra is now a citizen of Spain, and he left Cuba through legal means. He will be subject to rules regarding international bonus pools.
  • Dave Dombrowski added Frank Wren to the Red Sox front office because he wants associates who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. “I know Frank will speak his mind. He will disagree with me. He has before,” says Dombrowski, who worked with Wren in the Expos and Marlins organizations. “But also, the other people in the organization –€” we had our free agent scouts, I told them how important that is. Don’t just say it because you think it’€™s what I want to hear.”

Red Sox Notes: Hill, Front Office, McCracken

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Last night, veteran lefty Rich Hill struck out ten batters in a complete-game shutout against the Orioles. In doing so, he became the first AL pitcher in the last century to whiff at least ten in each of his first three starts with a new team, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com writes. As McAdam notes, that’s an amazing achievement for anyone, let alone a 34-year-old journeyman who was until recently pitching in independent ball. The Nationals released Hill in June, and the Sox signed him to a minor league deal after he struck out 21 batters in two starts with the Long Island Ducks. Since the Sox promoted him to the big leagues earlier this month, Hill has allowed just three runs in 23 innings, striking out 30 and walking two. Here’s more out of Boston.

  • The Sox’ hiring of Frank Wren is the latest evidence of their commitment to building a robust front office, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. They used their financial heft to lure Dave Dombrowski to Boston rather than Seattle or Toronto, and they’ve added Wren and promoted Mike Hazen to general manager. Dombrowski says he will solicit evaluations from assistants to the GM Pedro Martinez and Jason Varitek. The Red Sox are also hoping to add adviser and former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto to a full-time role, although that will have to wait until it’s clear whether Dipoto will get a GM job elsewhere.
  • One exec the Red Sox didn’t hire was Quinton McCracken, writes Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. McCracken interviewed for the GM job that ultimately went to Hazen. Now that the process is over, he’ll remain with the Astros as their director of player development. “Sunday night we interviewed pretty much half the day Monday morning. I was back in Houston later that night,” says McCracken. “Very thorough, interesting process. It’€™s the first time ever really going through something like that. Just being in consideration with a storied franchise like that for that position was truly an honor.” McCracken, of course, played 12 years as a big-league outfielder. He worked for two years in player development with the Diamondbacks before joining the Astros three years ago.

AL Notes: Nolasco, Wren, Dipoto, Walker

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The Twins have announced that they’ve reinstated starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco from the 60-day DL and cleared space for him on their 40-man roster by placing lefty Logan Darnell (pneumonia) on the 60-day DL. Nolasco has not pitched since May, having missed most of the season with a right ankle impingement. He had surgery on his ankle in July to remove a bone fragment. Nolasco won’t return to his usual starting role — instead, he’ll pitch in relief for the remainder of the season, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. His return gives him the opportunity to end a second straight disappointing year on a positive note. He’s almost halfway through his four-year, $49MM deal with the Twins (which includes a club option for 2018), and he’s now posted ERAs of 5.38 in 2014 and 5.51 in 32 2/3 innings this year.

  • The Red Sox’ new front office alignment — featuring Frank Wren as senior VP of baseball ops and reporting to president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski — can work, opines Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bradley notes that Wren had a tendency to be impulsive, but Dombrowski will rein in his reactionary impulses. Additionally, Bradley believes that Wren has a knack for scrounging for relievers and bench pieces, which can be of benefit to Boston. While he acknowledges that his defending of Wren is unpopular among Braves faithful (the Dan Uggla and Melvin Upton Jr. contracts still sting), Bradley adds that Wren never lost 90 games in a season with the Braves, who actually led the National League in victories from 2010-14 with Wren serving as GM.
  • Dombrowski says that he would love to add Jerry Dipoto to the Red Sox front office in a full-time capacity, but he’s presently waiting for the jobs for which Dipoto has applied to be resolved, tweets Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Dipoto, who is currently an adviser with the Red Sox, is known to have interviewed for the Mariners’ GM vacancy and was reported to be one of two finalists earlier today.
  • The Mariners aren’t completely ruling out the possibility that Taijuan Walker could make another start, but his season is likely over, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Walker isn’t hurt, but the Mariners want to be careful about his workload — he’s pitched 169 2/3 innings with the M’s this season after only pitching 129 innings total split between the Majors, the minors and the Arizona Fall League last year. “Ensuring that he’s healthy and goes into next season feeling good about what he’s accomplished this year, that outweighed everything else,” says manager Lloyd McClendon. If Walker’s season is over, it was a solid first full year in the big leagues for the former top prospect — he posted a 4.56 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 overall, but rebounded from a bumpy April and May to post a 3.26 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and just 1.2 BB/9 in his last 20 starts.

Red Sox Name Frank Wren Senior VP Of Baseball Operations

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The Red Sox announced this afternoon that former Braves GM Frank Wren has been hired as the team’s senior vice president of baseball operations. Wren, 57, worked with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski previously in the Marlins and Expos organizations. He will add to the team’s new-look front office, which also features newly appointed general manager Mike Hazen, who was promoted yesterday after previously serving as the team’s assistant GM. Boston also announced that assistant director of player personnel Jared Banner has been promoted to director of player personnel.

Frank Wren

Wren was rumored to be a candidate to step in as the new Red Sox general manager immediately upon Dombrowski’s hiring, although Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported last week that he may ultimately sign on with a title other than GM. That appears to be the case, though based on Wren’s title, one can imagine him playing a significant role in baseball operations decision-making.

Per the press release announcing the move, Wren“will serve as a talent evaluator and will assist Dombrowski in all aspects of baseball operations.” Based on that description, Wren will report directly to Dombrowski, though he’ll still be underneath Hazen in terms of organizational hierarchy. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets, it seems that Wren will be an aide but, unlike Hazen, won’t handle negotiations with agents or other teams.

The final years of Wren’s tenure as Braves general manager was marred by organizational missteps, as Atlanta made questionable free agent signings and extensions alike. Most notably, the signing of Melvin Upton Jr. and extensions for both Dan Uggla and Chris Johnson went south quickly. That’s not to say that none of the moves made with Wren in the GM chair panned out, of course; the acquisition of Justin Upton still looks to have been a win for the Braves, even if Upton has since been traded. Similarly, the Braves gave up little in the way of impact talent to acquire Michael Bourn and were rewarded with a season and a half of excellent play as well as draft compensation upon Bourn’s departure. (Here’s a full list of Wren’s transactions while serving as a GM, courtesy of the MLBTR Transaction Tracker.)

Nevertheless, the late missteps in Wren’s tenure outweighed the successes in the eyes of ownership, who replaced him with fellow veteran baseball ops exec John Hart. His new role with the Red Sox will be more limited, it seems, as he’ll serve primarily as a talent evaluator and will be based in Atlanta as opposed to in Boston, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe and Sean McAdam of Comcast Sportsnet New England (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heyman’s Latest: D-Backs, Freeman, O’s, Samardzija

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Jon Heyman of CBS Sports has published his latest Inside Baseball column and begins by taking a look at his 25 “heroes” of the 2015 season. Here are some highlights from the rest of the piece…

  • Adding a top-tier starting pitcher and a top closer are the main priorities of the Diamondbacks this offseason, Heyman hears. While the D-Backs probably won’t make a run at “the” top starter (presumably David Price), the team does have some money to spend on a starting pitcher. Previous reports have also stated that the Diamondbacks will renew trade talks for Aroldis Chapman this winter, though the asking price on him has, in the past, been said to be exorbitant.
  • The Braves have shown a willingness to listen to trade offers on almost anyone, but sources tell Heyman that Freddie Freeman probably isn’t going anywhere. Atlanta is also said to be open to a return for Craig Kimbrel — the initial trade was made for the purpose of shedding Melvin Upton’s contract — though the ’pen will receive a boost when Shae Simmons, Jason Grilli and Chris Withrow are healthy.
  • The Orioles will make qualifying offers to Chris Davis and Wei-Yin Chen but are not yet certain whether to extend one to Matt Wieters, who has had somewhat of a rough season in his return from Tommy John.
  • Clay Buchholz has been out since July with an elbow injury and will not return this season, according to Heyman, but the Red Sox will exercise his $13MM option for 2016 if he looks good in a bullpen session Sunday. Whatever happens, the Red Sox will look for additional pitching this winter. (Last night, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reported that Buchholz still hopes he can pitch an inning in the Red Sox’ last game of the season.)
  • The White Sox considered offering Jeff Samardzija an extension of around $80MM when they acquired him last season, but Samardzija wanted to test free agency. Heyman reports that Samardzija was disappointed the White Sox didn’t deal him in July, since a deal would have allowed him to pitch for a contender and would have prevented him from being extended a qualifying offer.
  • Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler still looks like the favorite for the Angels GM job, and Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine is another possibility. Heyman also mentions that the name of Padres and Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers has also come up.
  • Though Eppler may the favorite in Anaheim, he’s also one of two finalists for the Mariners’ GM post, with the other being Jerry Dipoto. Each candidate is in line for a second interview, which could be more than Dana Brown of the Blue Jays and interim GM Jeff Kingston get. Each has interviewed once, as have others, per Heyman.
  • Incoming Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro will retain GM Alex Anthopoulos. Of course, as Heyman notes, that’s hardly surprising given how well the Jays have played recently.
  • Nationals ownership, is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very disappointed with the 2015 team. While nothing is certain, however, GM Mike Rizzo seems likely to return for 2016.

Reactions To And Details On Red Sox’ Promotion Of Mike Hazen

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Roughly six weeks after the Red Sox hired Dave Dombrowski to serve as their new president of baseball operations, prompting GM Ben Cherington to resign, the Red Sox named Cherington’s top lieutenant — assistant GM Mike Hazen — as their new general manager. Hazen’s promotion was officially announced at a press conference yesterday. Here are some takeaways from the conference as well as reactions to the Sox’ decision to stay in house as opposed to selecting someone outside the organization…

  • Via the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier (Twitter link), Dombrowski said yesterday that a list of about 30 general manager candidates was compiled early in the search. However, somewhat surprisingly, only two candidates — Hazen and Astros director of player development Quinton McCracken — were formally interviewed.
  • In a full column, Speier writes that Hazen had the opportunity to pursue advancement with another organization six years ago but elected to remain with the Red Sox. When Jed Hoyer left Boston to become GM of the Padres, he offered Hazen, who was then Boston’s director of player development, the opportunity to be an assistant GM in San Diego. Hazen, a Massachusetts native, spoke yesterday about the decision to remain in Boston due to a passion for the Red Sox. The ability to impact a team for which he grew up cheering trumped the notion of climbing the front-office ladder in a new organization.
  • Speier also spoke to Hazen’s Princeton baseball coach, Scott Bradley, at length about the way in which Hazen broke into the front office game; Bradley introduced Hazen to Peter Gammons after Hazen’s minor league career ended, and after doing some work scouting the Cape Cod League, an impressed Gammons put him in touch with Indians GM Mark Shapiro, encouraging Shapiro to hire him as an intern. Shapiro made the hire, and within a month contacted Bradley and Gammons to profess what a special career he believed Hazen to have in front of him.
  • Gammons recalls the story from his own end (Twitter links from Gammons), explaining that Bradley initially called him seeking an opportunity for Hazen, whom he described as the best leader he’d ever coached. Gammons set up the scouting internship and promised to send Hazen’s reports to GMs around the league, and Shapiro “immediately hired Mike” after being impressed by his work. Gammons considers Hazen one of the most honest people in the game and adds that Dombrowski won’t ever get anything other than what Hazen truly believes in terms of feedback.
  • The promotion of Hazen is a vote of continuity for the Red Sox, writes the Providence Journal’s Tim Britton. Twenty-two members of the current front office piled in the back of yesterday’s press conference to applaud Hazen, and as Britton notes, his ascension to GM all but ensures that there won’t be a mass exodus of front office talent from the pre-existing regime. Dombrowski is quoted as speaking highly of Hazen and the baseball ops staff that he inherited upon being hired. Hazen will have Dombrowski’s ear on all baseball ops decisions, especially early on as Dombrowski familiarizes himself with the system. Britton reports that Hazen interviewed for the Angels’ GM opening last week as well, and Speier noted in the above-linked piece that the Brewers had sought permission to interview him also.
  • Though McCracken wasn’t hired as Boston’s GM, Dombrowski told reporters that he was thoroughly impressed with his interview. Per the Houston Chronicle’s Evan Drellich, Dombrowski sees a bright future for McCracken: “Quinton McCracken is going to be a general manager. There is no doubt in my mind. He’s got a lot of great qualities.” Dombrowski also cited his experience in the game and the fact that many GM candidates seek final authority over baseball operations decisions — something the Sox wouldn’t be offering, given Dombrowski’s role as president — as reasons that only two candidates were interviewed.
  • Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes that Hazen’s honesty and personality make him well-suited to fill the sometimes-difficult role of being a GM that works underneath a president. Hazen’s former Princeton coach spoke to Lauber as well, explaining why that’s the case. “I think Mike will be his own person, but he’s also such a team guy that he will work really, really well with Dave in that regard,” said Bradley. “Too many people in those types of (GM) positions in baseball avoid really difficult conversations. I think that’s Mike’s strength. That’s who he is.”
  • Dombrowski will be faced with an offseason of trying to clean up some missteps by the Red Sox — most notably the signings of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, writes ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes. Ramirez, as was announced yesterday, won’t play again this offseason due to a shoulder injury, of which the origin is unknown. Edes points out that in a way, Dombrowski and Hazen wouldn’t be in this spot were it not for those signings, as Cherington’s job probably wouldn’t have been in danger had neither player been signed to his ill-fated contract. Dombrowski gave a diplomatic answer when asked about Ramirez, as Edes notes, stating that he’d be the team’s first baseman in 2016. That could, clearly, change depending on the course of the offseason.
  • Cherington texted the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato and expressed praise and congratulations for his former assistant (Twitter link). “Mike is very deserving and ready to be a GM and I think the Red Sox made a smart choice,” said Cherington.

Red Sox Name Mike Hazen GM

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The Red Sox have filled their general manager vacancy from within, as the team announced today that assistant GM Mike Hazen will be promoted to the role of general manager to replace the departed Ben Cherington. Hazen, of course, will report to recently hired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

In his previous role as senior vice president/assistant GM, Hazen assisted Ben Cherington (who resigned upon Dombrowski’s hiring) in player acquisitions, player evaluation, contract negotiations, major league, and pro scouting, per the Red Sox. His time with the Red Sox dates back to the 2006 season when he was hired as the team’s director of player development. Before his time with the Sox, Hazen spent five years working in the Indians’ front office, focusing on player development and scouting. The Princeton grad played four years of college ball and was a 31st-round draft pick of the Padres in 1998. He played two minor league seasons before joining Cleveland’s scouting department.

“Over his 10 years with the Red Sox, Mike has proven to be an invaluable member of the baseball operations department,” said Dombrowski in a press release announcing the move. “We are thrilled to have him in this position and I’m excited to have him working with me on every aspect of baseball operations.” Executive vice president/COO Sam Kennedy calls this a “great day” for the Red Sox organization, adding: “Mike’s leadership, work ethic, and passion for the game are second to none.  His experience, combined with his local roots, make him the perfect choice to work alongside Dave as we head into 2016.”

The 39-year-old Hazen was one of many rumored candidates for the GM vacancy in Boston. Former Braves GM Frank Wren and former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd both were mentioned as possibilities, with Wren believed at one point to be a particularly strong possibility. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman recently reported, though, that it’s possible Wren could be hired to serve in a non-GM capacity. Boston is said to have recently interviewed Astros director of player development Quinton McCracken, and other names mentioned in the search included Yankees AGM Billy Eppler, D-Backs vice president De Jon Watson and former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto, who is currently working with the Sox in an advisory capacity. It’s unclear how, or if, the hiring of Hazen will impact Dipoto’s role with the club.

One would imagine that the hiring of Hazen bodes well for Boston’s chances at retaining a large number of the executives currently within the front office. It makes sense that Hazen, who comes with a good deal of front office experience and an obvious in-depth familiarity with the Sox’ farm system, would be selected to pair with Dombrowski atop Boston’s baseball operations pyramid.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported the promotion (via Twitter).

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